Look Again
by 13HoursInWonderland
Summary: Red visions hit behind her eyes hard, in flashes even her brother would have difficulty keeping up with. Yet she managed to interpret, and more importantly feel, every bit of moving mirages. With a growing sense of Deja vu it dawned on Wanda she was watching a premonition. A potential future, if only she let it come to pass.
Honestly Wanda couldn't tell what the statue facing her was made out of. Whatever the medium, it was bright, reflective and most definitely expensive. This life size "artistic" interpretation of Stark's IronMan suit probably cost more than everything she had ever owned combined. Wanda twitched uneasily at the thought, motivating her to flex her fingers in an effort to calm her already frazzled nerves. Never less scarlet crackled around her hands like embers.

Allowing an exhale to devolve into a hiss Wanda told herself to fight a rising urge to propel object opposite her across the room in a blaze of red. Following impulse, among other things, is what had led her to this point. Standing in the center of her (former?) enemies' home. Suddenly painfully aware that maybe Tony Stark, and the Avenger's by association, were less of the warmongering pretend heroes she'd always seen them as.

Everything had changed since she'd caught a glimpse inside Ultron's head. Even so, despite bitter realizations and betrayals, hate was a hard stain to clean away. Especially after it had festered inside Wanda for over a decade.

In the end she managed to settle for scowling at the statue. Though Sokovian curses felt a hell of a lot less satisficing then exploding Stark property into worthless rubble, it did help her adjust. After her third profanity the red twisting around her fingers began to dissipate, her tension lowering a notch.

"You're alone?" Just as Wanda was beginning to feel comfortable (or as comfortable as she could be in this foreign American skyscraper she'd been brought to) a smooth voice sounded close behind her. "You are never alone."

The realization that she was not alone in this corner of Avenger's tower re-aggravated what tension the girl had managed to sooth. Color instantly swirled back to life around her hands as she spun to face voice.

She found herself face to face with… the creature. Both Ultron and the Norse god had referred to it (him?) as a Vision. Was that what she was expected to call him (it?)?

"You're staring." Wanda ended up chiding once she'd had a moment to calm herself. If she was having a hard enough time deciding between it or him then she'd just avoid titles for now.

"That is-" The creature began, before briefly hesitating as if unsure that he was about to use the appropriate words in the right context. "-rude of me. I am sorry. It is just your brother, Peitro, he is not with you. That is odd."

"How would you know that? You're only five minutes old."

"I have retained some- memories from Jarvis… and Ultron."

For a moment Wanda tensed at the mention of her recent ally turned foe. The scorch of Ultron's thoughts was still fresh in her head. It had only been a day prior that curiosity had compelled her to look into the device and creature within, that the metal man had linked himself to. A mere twenty-four hours' since she'd found such a strong determination to bring down raining fire and global destruction.

"He's exploring." Eventually Wanda managed to bring herself back to the here and now to answer its questioning tone. The girl did have to make a short shake of her head as she spoke however, as if she could dislodge Ultron's presence with gesture. "Peitro doesn't like to stay still for long, and it takes him less than two minutes to do anything. He has to keep himself occupied while the rest of us take our time catching up to him."

There was silence as the creature appeared to consider her words. Wanda took the opportunity to examine him up close. Though she'd kept an eye on it since its creation, those looks had been mostly from afar. Now he was close enough to her she could make out the details to his silver red features and the faint glowing gem centered in his forehead.

Wanda had to admit, if only to herself, it looked slightly different now from when she first saw the creature swaddled in the cradle (probably do to whatever Stark had uploaded). Still, she couldn't fight the suspicion she was watching a child of Ultron. The Avenger's had seemed content to accept the creature with relative ease after he had handed Thor his hammer. The looks on all their faces in that moment told Wanda the gesture must mean something to them all… but it didn't mean a damn thing to her.

"Now you are staring." It observed, pulling Wanda out of her weary musings.

"I have every right to stare."

"I unsettle you, I think."

"I think you _know_ you unsettle me-" She snapped, her tone short and blunt. Wanda wasn't the type to hold back her opinion, especially when there were lives potentially on the line… Her people's lives none the less. "-and _I think_ you know why."

"I am not Ultron." He repeated what he had expressed earlier, not five minutes after exploding into existence like some sort of Frankenstein's monster, complete with thunder and lightning.

"Prove it." Wanda's tone is more of a challenge than a demand. Her eyes flaring with scarlet if only to embolden herself for whatever her challenge gains her. "Or have you changed your mind about letting me look again."

He could ask why, if his existence concerns her so, she hasn't looked already. Why she has not forced her way in, rummaging around for the answers she wants… And despite any reservations Wanda has regarding this thing, she is thankful for that. She doesn't have the time or patience to explain her ever adjusting motives to someone who might not even believe her good intentions (though he would be somewhat justified).

"No." He states simply instead. "I have not."

With a quick nod Wanda takes this as confirmation enough. So she moves, like a spider suddenly creeping out of its hiding place to secure whatever had been caught in its web. She twisted her hands in a manner that would have felt odd and unnatural months ago, before the experimentation, but had since become uniform. She let her so called 'magic' guide her, not entirely sure what she was looking for or if she even wanted to see it. Ultron's mind was still a fresh scar in her memory, and presently Wanda doubted this creature Stark had created was much different. Then, suddenly as if two magnets had come into range of each other Wanda's mind collided with... _something;_ her powers flaring from the impact.

It was unlike anything her abilities had touched upon before. She wasn't inside his mind, at least not in the way the girl had intended. Her hexing swirls of scarlet found no thoughts to be read, fears to trigger, or nightmares to play out (Though she could feel them there. Somewhere outside what Wanda found herself exploring now.). _This_ , whatever _this_ was, felt stronger then all that. Yet somehow less solid. Like the force behind a gust of wind.

Red visons hit behind her eyes hard, in flashes even her brother would have difficulty keeping up with. Yet she managed to interpret, and more importantly feel, every bit of moving mirages. With a growing sense of Deja vu it dawned on Wanda she was watching a premonition. A potential future, if only she let it come to pass.

Initially all the girl could decipher from the crimson forms playing out inside her head was a shared fascination between herself and the creature. Hard times would strengthen this peculiar admiration they seemed to have for each other, morphing it into respect and affection. Then, eventually, something so much more. Even when uncertainty and prejudices would come knocking, the two of them would hold stronger to what had become of their relationship. Mixed into all this, despite all struggles and threats that lay ahead, Wanda saw happiness and such sweet joy she almost pulled away from depictions in disbelief.

This couldn't be right- the prospects Wanda was glimpsing within this being (...this man). What was yet to come had never looked this comforting, this wholesome. But something inside Wanda's churning magic told her what she saw was no illusion or trick, like the terrors she could spawn in other peoples' minds. These pictures were memories simply not yet made yet.

The realization that Wanda wasn't just seeing what could be, but would be, coupled with what played out next (a pair of babies crying and laughing- William-Thomas-) alarmed her so she finally jerked out of the spell. As her scarlet began to wane away and Wanda returned to the here and now she took notice of _him_ , physically standing before her for the first time since attempting to enter his head. He looked back at her with the same wonder and awe she felt ghosting over her skin.

"You-" The girl began, struggling to find her voice after such a chaotic disconnect. " _You_ and _I_ - _we_ "

Wanda trailed off here, as if speaking of what she had seen would make it more real. Attempting to compose herself she looked away from him for a moment to take a steading breath. When she glanced back she found him staring at her with a strange sort of gleam in his eyes. As if what she had just done both compelled and frightened him. Hell knew that's exactly how she felt.

"It would appear," he suddenly spoke, voice gentle and quiet as if trying not to alarm her even more. "That indeed you and I-" then he stalled, his bright eyes dilating, mouth thinning into a deep frown.

Wanda felt it too, her own features twisting with the realization of it. As the last of her scarlet faded she could feel what she had glimpsed slipping away, like waves washing away sketches drawn into beach sand. The memories were fading, and if she didn't do something soon, they would be gone. With a desperate flick of her wrist Wanda summoned crimson to latch disappearing scarlet back into their minds, because as much as the images had disturbed her, they had been pleasant. More pleasant than anything she had experienced in years. But she could already tell by the thinness of color in her head she had begun this spell too late. Despite her best efforts the scarlet was dissolving quickly, like mist settling into nothingness.

The next thing Wanda knew she was turning away from the man, not entirely sure what she had been doing standing so close to him. She spared him a sideways glace before completely abandoning him to find her brother. Somehow, for some reason, she found herself feeling a lot more comfortable with his existence then she had been a moment before. To her own amazement, (for someone who was so familiar with the inside of peoples' minds) this sudden, unprompted change of feeling wasn't bothering her.

Just as suddenly as the city was flying, it was falling. In a single moment the tables had turned, so to speak, and Sakovia started to plummet.

Vision was aware of what this meant, as all the Avenger knew what this meant. He knew, in spite of his youth and general sense of newness, what would happen if Sakovia hit the earth at its current mass and speed. Even if the synthesized man trusted that Tony Stark and Thor would come through, if only just at the last minute, he knew some part of him should be concerned for the 'what ifs'. Yet all this ebbed at the back of his mind as secondary. Imperative, but not dire to his well-being. What was haunting the android's brain, circling with utter importance, was the woman in scarlet and fact she was not accounted for.

The last he had seen of her, Wanda Maximoff had stayed behind to guard the key, but had not been there when the city began its decent. For Sokvia would still be aloft if she were still acting as sentry. So Vision quickly scanned the city for any forms of life, feeling a need to locate the woman with an intensity he didn't know he could feel.

When Vision locked onto a heat signature not far from the church he didn't give instinct a second thought and dove into the falling city. He was going back for the woman in scarlet, and not just because it was the right thing to do. Not even simply because she didn't deserve to die this way, despite her wrongdoings. No, the real reason the android found himself collecting Wanda Maximoff into his arms amid chaos and suspended debris was simply because, somewhere in the back of his brain he knew (somehow, in some way) that if this woman died here his future would be greatly diminished.

A/N: I originally wrote this right after Age of Ultron came out. (I was very excited to give this ship a try because for a very long time Scarlet Vision was my favorate comic book couple.) I'm a little surprised I haven't come across anything that explores Wanda and Vision's relationship from this moment in time.


End file.
